Southern California Edison offers seminars for homeowners on the pros and cons of going solar, along with help determining which approach works best for them.

The next seminar will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 22 at OCR Auditorium at the Orange County Register, 625 N. Grand Ave., Santa Ana. For more information or to register, go to ocregister.com/ocsolarcentral.

Another event is planned for 6 p.m. on Oct. 2 at the La Quinta Inn in La Palma.

The clock is ticking for homeowners to cash in on incentives when they go solar. Subsidies and tax breaks that made solar power more affordable in California are set to expire over the next three years.

First, do you have a good roof? There's no point in installing solar panels if there's not enough sun, either because your roof faces north (away from the sun), doesn't have enough of a slope or is shaded by trees.

Second, is your electric bill consistently above $150 a month?

If so, solar saves you money because it replaces the two most expensive pricing tiers with cheaper electricity.

"It makes sense, I would say, for anybody who has an electric bill of at least $100 a month," said Linda Tolman, Southern California sales manager for SolarCity, a San Mateo-based solar supplier. "At $150 or more, it becomes a no-brainer."

One reason solar has become so appealing: Others help pay for adding photovoltaic solar panels on your roof, said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California Energy Institute in Berkeley.

Borenstein estimates that state and federal subsidies can cover a third of the cost of buying a home's solar system, and about half the cost of leasing a system, where the provider owns the system and the homeowner rents it.

"Don't wait too long (to go solar) because that subsidy will end," he said.

The costs

You pay for solar systems by the watt. Expect to pay $4 to $6 per watt, according to Southern California Edison officials.

The typical residential system in Orange County has about 5 kilowatts of capacity, local providers say, meaning that the typical home system could cost from $20,000 to $30,000.

But you don't have to pay that much up front.

A range of loans and no-money-down plans can spread out those costs over time. Whether you're buying, leasing or getting a power-purchase agreement, zero-down plans are available from banks, credit unions and solar industry providers.

Related Links

A SolarCity crew installs solar panels on a home in Mission Viejo Wednesday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
About 7,000 Orange County homes have gone solar since 2007, with a capacity to generate nearly 32 megawatts of power, the California Public Utility Commission reported. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Options for going solar include buying the system, leasing the equipment for a flat fee or purchasing the power produced. Loans and other options make it possible to go solar with little or no money paid up front. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Greg Gill of Laguna Niguel with the solar inverters that convert solar power into AC. Gill opted to buy the solar equipment when he installed it last March, saying that the savings over the long haul will be greater than leasing. KATIE DEES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Greg Gill installed 22 panels on the roof of his four-bedroom Laguna Niguel home in March. The system cost $22,400, but his out-of-pocket expense was reduced by $6,470 for the 30 percent federal tax credit and a $789 state rebate. That cut his final cost to $15,100. KATIE DEES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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